In time of need
by Hinata HyuUchiha
Summary: (Post Things change) It started with an investigation of a cofeeshop. But it turned out to be a trap and now both Terra and Robin were Slade's apprentices again. And in their struggle to free their crushes from Slade's grasp...Beast Boy and Starfire realize that they had found comfort in one another. (Bbterra, major Bbstar, Robstar)


Family 7

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In time of need

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Chapter 1: Towards darkness

The sun had already begun to set and Jump City was drowned in its orange light. And walking through that orange light was a girl of slim frame and she was seen entering a coffee shop.

She needed to clear her head – she still needed to get that image of that green-skinned boy out of her head. She had tried not to be emotional…but as soon as she was sure he left, her thoughts somehow drifted towards him. She wouldn't admit it but…she liked his company…but his persistence at believing that she was 'Terra' caused her to distance herself from him.

How could she be the girl he thought she was – and how could he still want to be friends with someone that only seemed to have hurt him?

The blonde-haired girl sighed and ordered some hot chocolate. Maybe that might calm her.

The man that watched her from his computer screen, having managed to hack into the shop's security camera let his hands fold under his chin as he was deep in thought.

But he knew where all his thinking would lead him to – to them.

"Let's begin, shall we?" he muttered to the girl in the screen.

Red light accompanied by loud blaring sounds filled a certain tower of heroes and their leader was already on the large screen before little by little, the rest of the team gathered around him.

"Who is it this time? I hope it's not Plasmus again," Raven muttered bored.

"If I have to fight that stinky, grease ball one more time, I'll stop eating meat for a week, "Cyborg said, crossing his arms.

Robin turned around. "No. It's something simple. It seems a coffee shop has been vandalized in the southern part of the city. Let's try to see if we can find the ones responsible for it or if anyone has received any damage."

He made his way out of the tower, followed by the others and it took them about 10 minutes to get there with the T-Car. Their arrival was signaled with the ringing of the bell and the owner flinched before coming out of under his hiding spot behind the counter.

Robin saw that the shop was left in bad shape – broken windows, overturned chairs and split tables and not to mention the broken mirror behind the counter. "What exactly happened?" the leader asked the owner as the others took a closer look around.

"I-I…don't know," he mumbled and Robin looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"It…just happened too fast. Several figures came in and just started thrashing my shop…and then…they just left," he stammered nervously.

"Just like that? Sounds like a prank to me," Beast Boy commented as he picked up a picture from the floor and turned it around to see a picture of a seagull flying above the sea.

"Appearance?" Raven asked.

"The only thing I saw was that all of them had black clothing."

"Do you know which direction they were headed to?" Robin asked, not finding a lot of help in asking this man.

"I…think they went towards the amusement park," he mumbled with a lower voice and Robin turned to his team.

"Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy! You guys go and check out the amusement park. Starfire and I will see if they are still lurking around somewhere here," he ordered and Cyborg gave one last comment before leaving.

"Of course you would want to spend some quality time with your girlfriend."

Robin shot him an angry glare before he left with a smirk.

"I-it appears…they have left. M-maybe…you can get their location from above?" the man suggested meekly and Robin nodded.

"Starfire?"

"I understand," she said before flying out of the window.

"But…now that I think about it…there…could have been a witness…that could help you," the man muttered and Robin looked at him in interest before the man held out a picture…and Robin's eyes widened beneath his mask.

On the picture…there was a blonde-haired girl who sat on the same counter the Boy Wonder found himself standing in front of, apparently being busy with a drink.

"T-Terra?" Her name barely left his lips as he took in her facial features – there was no mistake!

This must be her – she looked exactly like their former teammate!

"Where is she?" he asked quite heatedly before the man gestured for him to flip the picture over.

Robin did so and his eyes narrowed as he read the tiny message written in bold letters.

'DOCKS – ALONE'

The handwriting was not any he noticed – probably because the bold letters were written carefully so they all were the same size.

Did this mean that…Terra – this girl – was held hostage somewhere?

As that thought spread through his mind, his hand had begun to squish the paper unknowingly in his silent anger.

But he knew he couldn't tell anyone – especially not Beast Boy or he would risk losing her. "Who was it? Didn't you see their faces?" Robin growled a little and the man took a step back.

"H-How could I? They had masks on."

"What…kind of masks?" he asked suddenly. He couldn't help it. Ever since the defeat of Trigon…he thought that Slade had somehow waited for a moment to resurface.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "Plain orange ones. I couldn't even make out their eyes."

Robin began to feel apprehensive and his heart raced in his chest.

The bell rang and with quick reflexes, Robin slid the crumpled photography into his belt before Starfire looked over his shoulder.

"Have you found any of the clues yet, Robin?" she asked hopefully, indicating that her search was fruitless.

He shook his head. "Not a single one," he lied.

Robin couldn't just risk Terra's life – and besides he didn't want to drag his friends into anything that involved Slade, should it be really him that had kidnapped her.

The leader pulled out his communicator. "Cyborg, come in!"

"We haven't gotten anything so far. I think they might have hitched a ride or something," Cyborg spoke back and Robin frowned.

"I thought so. Let's stop the search for now until we get more clues," he told his team before shutting off his device.

"Do you know at least someone who had something against you or your business?" he pressed on but the man proved to be not very informative.

"Not that I would know of. Maybe it was just an act of vandalism. Bad guys…don't always have a specific reason for the way they act."

Robin narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Anything stolen? Money? Jewelry?"

The man only shook his head and Robin found himself clenching his fists while Starfire looked at him in worry.

The fact that someone wanted him by the docks alone and that nothing was stolen made the whole situation smell of a trap.

And this girl that looked like Terra was in the middle of it!

"Robin? Are you alright?" came Starfire's voice before the rest of his team arrived.

"It's not like you to give up so fast. Where's the asking around?" Raven asked with a raised brow, having experienced that a few times in situations like these, Robin would extend his search by asking other people for any unusual activities.

"Don't worry. We'll do that soon. I'd just like to ask him one last question before we head out." He turned to him. "Would you like to stay under police protection? I mean people just came and ruined your shop on purpose. Maybe they were sent with the intent to harm you afterwards?"

There was a short moment of silence and the man answered after he avoided eye-contact briefly. "No. I don't need it."

Either he is just shy…or he was hiding something. Somehow, Robin felt that it was the latter.

"Alright. Stay safe!" he said before leaving the shop along with his team. He'd remember to have a talk with him later when he saved the girl. "Cyborg and Raven, you take west. Beast Boy and Starfire, you take the eastern part of the city. And I'll take this area. Report your findings immediately."

They nodded and began their search.

Robin took the fastest route he knew to the docks, his impatience slowly getting the better of him. It didn't take him long to find himself standing in front of bobbing boats and ships of different sizes. His eyes wandered around for any unusual activity and he even sneaked on the ships and took a look at their cargo.

He had just entered the basement of another ship…when he heard muffled cries from somewhere…below him. Robin's eyes scanned the floor before he found the outline of what seemed to be a trap door close to the back wall of the basement. Using his bird-a-rang, he managed to open the hidden door and he narrowed his eyes to see better in the dark…before they widened.

Lying blind-folded, gagged and tied-up in the corner of the tiny compartment…was a blonde-haired girl.

"Terra?"

She replied with another indistinct, muffled cry and he jumped down and helped her out before proceeding to open her gag.

"What happened?" he asked as he was reaching out for her blind-fold before something slammed against his head and he fell with a pained cry.

"Remember me?"

Robin's eyes widened.

Meanwhile Starfire and Beast Boy were flying towards their assigned area before Starfire landed on a roof of a building and Beast Boy followed her.

"Why did you stop? Don't tell me you're tired already?" he asked but his smile vanished, seeing her distressed expression.

"Robin…had seemed so…on the edge. Something is not right with him," she muttered and turned to the shape-shifter.

"What? Come on, Star! You know him. He's just trying to look scary for the bad guys and he's always like that when he can't figure out where the bad guy ran off to," the changeling tried to reassure her but she shook her head.

"No, Beast Boy! I…can feel that something is wrong. Something dreadful is happening. Do…you know what I mean?" she asked, as if she seemed silly.

But somehow…he knew what she meant. After all, he had felt something like this when Slade told him…that Terra had been his apprentice.

He lowered his gaze. "Yeah… Do you want me to go alone?"

Starfire managed a small smile. "Thank you!"

Beast Boy watched her fly off into the distance, the worry slowly making itself apparent…but he tried to ignore it.

Starfire's thoughts of her happy moments with Robin fueled her and she gained speed. It didn't take long for her to reach the southern part of the city again.

She was just passing the Jump City docks…before suddenly one of the ships burst into flames and Starfire landed immediately… before the happy memories began to fade as her worry and apprehension grew.

"Robin!"


End file.
